We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Ellis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.
Hi Lauren , thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Walter Pat’s Bakery Cafe is a seasonally driven small-batch black woman-owned bakery, based in Detroit specializing in viennoiseries, such as croissants and danishes. Walter Pat’s showcases unique flavor combinations and some good classics, as well. We are inspired by our midwest upbringing and southern influence. I started Walter Pat’s Bakery Cafe because I didn’t see the type of pastries that I was craving. I was also at a point in my life where I didn’t want to create for others anymore. I selfishly wanted to make pastries that I wanted to eat and hoped other people enjoyed the unique flavor combinations that I created. It started with pastry boxes to family friends to a local farmers market. From there it grew to a few wholesale accounts and now we’re looking for our brick and mortar.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a Detroit native who just had a love for the art and science of baking as a kid. I even went to baking and pastry summer camp as a teenage at a college in Chicago. As the years gone by I became a graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. My education allowed me to work cities like New York, Chicago, and even Sydney, Australia. I had the opportunity to work in bakeries, resorts, and fine dining restaurants before deciding to start Walter Pat’s Bakery Cafe. Walter Pat’s Bakery Cafe is named after my maternal grandmother. She was a strong tenacious woman and the true matriarch of the family. Baking and pastry is my passion and I just want to share it with my community through fun delicious unique seasonal flavored sweet and savory pastries.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
What helped me build my reputation within my market was participating in local entrepreneur programs for grants and education. They helped showcase my business and taught me ways to grow it. I also increased my revenue streams. I went from not only from doing retail but wholesale, catering, and baking classes.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Honestly my best source for new clients have been word a mouth. I continue to do pop-ups in new locations to gain new followers. My regulars show up to these pop ups and tell people how good my product is and they try them right away. The delicious smells and the beauty of the pastries definitely helps as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://walterpats.com
- Instagram: @walterpatsdetroit
